One Day
by Shylandrew
Summary: Colony Trash and a prince. A friendship. They helped each other. Until when Colony suddenly left, returning in the prince's life desperately needing his help. T for safety and future chapters Thankies to Lanie McCoy for beta-reading this story XD
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: I remember

_I remember hugging my knees to my chest._

_I remember shutting my eyes. _

_I remember being afraid._

I remember looking around the cart full of men I knew from my village ... my neighbors... my father's friends... they were all here. Their green and brown eyes, now empty, no hope or will to be found in them. I remember how the men spoke about what the Fire Nation would do to them, how they would die, and how they might live, while I thought about why they would even bother taking a seven year old child. One of them- my father's closest friend- addressed me and said, "Aren't you scared?"

I shook my head no even though the truth was... I was deathly afraid, it was like a nightmare that I wanted desperately to get out of... but I had to act brave. I was told not to fear these people.

He smiled, such a sad smile, "It's all right. I'm afraid. We all are..." he motioned to the men around him. And I remember seeing the fear in all of their eyes.

That was the first time I heard anyone admit fear in my village. We were told as children that fear was our only other enemy besides the Fire Nation. If we feel fear, we were defeated even before the first battle.

But even before these men had gone into their first battle with the Fire Nation, they had been killed not of their own fear... but of the Fire Nation savages.

_But yet I remember being saved._

_I remember being silenced and punished as a servant._

_I remember knowing a Fire Nation boy who was not a savage.  
I was still afraid, but I remember a slight flicker of happiness. _

Chapter 1

The young girl squinted at the parchment. The characters seemed like people frantically dancing across the page trying to tell her something. But the message wasn't getting through. Hana couldn't read what it was desperately trying to tell her. As one could see, the young girl didn't know how to read. There was no reason for that on a farm, or in the palace kitchen drying dishes and moping floors. But now, in the chambers of the Fire Nation Royals, literacy was mandatory. Of course the seven year old had no idea how she, an Earth Kingdom peasant, was promoted to such a high standard in the palace. In fact, she had no idea why she was there in the bed chambers the first place. But the thing was, Hana looked more Fire Nation than anything. With her ivory skin and ebony hair, she could even pass for a noble. But she acted Earth Kingdom: strong- willed and stubborn, refusing to bow down to anybody.

The young boy began to squint too. But instead of at a piece of parchment, it was at the young girl. Stepping closer, he was able to see her troubled face, nibbling on her bottom lip and blank eyes. He hadn't seen her before, at least not in this part of the palace. Looking at her again, she was clearly a servant, in a plain red tunic, slightly different than the ones that the chambermaids wore. _She seems so… _his thoughts paused in search of finding the right word, _lost. _He took another step, mystified at her unusual behavior. _Who looks at a parchment like that? What could be on the paper that could be so hard to figure out? _The child took three more steps until he was behind the girl, able to see the writing on the parchment. Leaning forward, he was able to see… "Clean," he whispered.

Startled Hana turned around, to see a pale boy standing close to her. Gripping the paper in her left hand, she gasped and said, "Yeah? What about it?" Maybe she wasn't allowed to snap at her supervisors and cooks, but this boy seemed about her age.

"That's what it says on the paper," his voice seemed calm, "Can't you read?" now it snapped just like hers.

"Does it matter?" the paper crumpled in her hand.

"Well… yeah… Shouldn't it?'

Hana shrugged her shoulders.

"Do you need help?" he asked, unsure of himself.

"With what?"

"With reading the paper you have," he pointed to the crumpled mess in her hand.

"I can read it myself," her voice got defensive, "And I don't need any help from you sav-" she was about to say savage but remembering how many times she was hit for letting it slip out, she stopped mid- word.

"Well if you could, why were you taking so long?"

"I… I was thinking, okay?"

"You can't read, can you?"

Frustrated, she turned to leave.

"Hey, wait!" he grabbed her wrist, "You're a kitchen girl aren't you? No wonder you don't know."

"So what, I was a kitchen girl."

"Well your manners are terrible. _Even_ for a kitchen girl."

"What's that supposed to mean?" her hands clenched into fists.

"That you have bad manners. Even the kitchen riff raff know to bow when a royal addresses them."

"You're not a royal," she scoffed.

"Oh yeah?" he stepped back crossing his arms.

Hana was able to size him up, not just his face but also his clothes. She saw the armor-like shirt and pants with his pointed shoes. Gazing back up, she saw… his golden eyes. Quickly she dropped to her knees, bringing her forehead to the marble floor.

"You saw the eyes right?"

"Yes," she became quiet and timid.

"You know my whole family as them. My mom, my sister, dad, grandfather, great grandfather…"

"Okay, I get it," she hissed. Luckily he didn't hear.

"You can get up now," he smiled, "Oh, and you didn't have to do the lowly- toad thing, that's only for adult royals. You can just bow from the waist until I turn sixteen."

Rubbing her red forehead she was able to say, "I'm s-sorry, your highness…"

"You bumped your head didn't you," he laughed, "I don't think anyone has done _that _before. You must be _really_ clumsy," the boy laughed again. "What's your name any way, kitchen girl?"

"Will you not call me that? I'm not even a kitchen girl anymore," her face became red.

"You're forgetting your manners again," he chided. _ I don't know why its so fun teasing her… but she's blushing. _He smiled.

"It's Hana," she paused before speaking again, "What's yours… your highness."

"It's Zuko… Prince Zuko… just call me that, okay?"

"You mean I don't have to say 'your highness' all the time?"

"No… I thought you knew that. What's your name again?"

"Hana…" she said sighing.

"Oh! You're the girl from the colonies in the Earth Kingdom. My mom was said something about…"

"What's your mother's name?"

"_You _should address her as 'Your highness.' But her name is Ursa. I bet you've seen her. She was long dark hair, and my color eyes."

She remembered the night she was brought to the palace… _What was that woman's name? _Hana shut her eyes for a second and heard someone with dark hair and gold eyes speak to the captain at the docks. _One hundred gold pieces for this child's life._ And again in dark cellar, _If anybody asks you where you're from, say the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. _"So that was her name," she whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing…" she shook her head, "Prince Zuko?"

"Yes?"

"Can you help me read this?" Hana smoothed out the parchment and gave it to him.

"Sure," he smiled taking it.

"Well… Zuko?"

"Hm?" he didn't notice, or at least didn't mention, that she had forgotten the title Prince.

"Well…" she began again, "You're pretty nice for a Fire Nation boy."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you're nice."

And a smile crept onto both of their pale faces.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Zuko ate the last bite of his rice. Looking out the floor to ceiling window, he was able to see the noontime sun in the center of the sky. He was going to be late. But then again, Hana might be too. "May I be excused?"

"You've been excusing yourself a lot lately." Ursa's calm and motherly nature never seemed to be fazed by anything, not even the echo of clicking porcelain on the wooden table in the gigantic, empty dining room.

"I know." The prince's voice got soft and quiet.

"What are you doing, anyway, might I ask?" She took a sip of her tea and as she put the cup back down, the soft clink caused Zuko to jump. He must really be on edge about something.

"I'm—uh…" He wiped his clammy hands on his pants. If anyone were to find out what he was doing—teaching a servant to read—his father would be very mad. No, "furious" wouldn't even begin to describe it.

"Are you playing with Ping?"

"No…. I'm…meeting someone." He wrung his hands until they were white.

"Li?"

"Which one?" There were practically ten Li's his age in the upper ring alone.

"Anyone. I'm just trying to guess, darling." She smiled.

"I'm going to be late," he said quickly as his pale face turned scarlet red, matching his mother's robe.

"Will you tell me when you get back?"

"Um-hm." Zuko nodded. He turned around on his heels and left the dining area, his swift and quiet steps echoing in the near-vacant hall.

"Did you remember to use the good soap this time?" Lin's light hazel eyes were sharp as the knives she was putting away.

Hana nodded.

"Did you break anything?"

For the first time, Hana was able to say, "No."

"Wash your share?"

"Yes." Actually she only was able to do half, but no one seemed to notice.

"Clean the basins?"

"Yes." She did do that, but it was extra work given to her and the rest of her group for not using the good soap. Actually it was Hana who forgot; everyone else remembered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Put the dishes away?"

"Yes."

"Mop the floors?"

"Yes."

"Then you're done." Lin turned to put the rest of the knives away.

"May I be excused now?"

"You seem to be in a rush, Colony," That was the shorter version of the name that had been given Hana when they found out she was from the colonies, Colony Trash, they called her. She didn't mind it…much.

"I am." Hana stepped back.

"Hold on." Lin looked closer at Hana's basin and saw the other half of her share.

She stopped.

"I still have one more job for you."

"What?" She was barely able to keep from snapping.

"You didn't finish your share. I'm not stupid, Hana."

Sighing, Colony got back to work.

Half an hour later, Zuko was standing in a hall all the way in the back of the palace. No one ever would go there, so to Zuko, it seemed to be the perfect place to teach Hana—who was half an hour late. Normally, she would be on time, but recently she had been coming later and later. Finally, panting and flushed, Hana ran to where the prince was sitting.

"What took you so long?" Zuko asked impatiently.

"I had extra work to do," she said between gasps.

"Did you at least get to eat?"

"Huh?" Hana's legs folded beneath her and she sat on the ground.

"Did you eat lunch?" he said slower, annunciating every word.

"No," her voice was airy as her chest rose and fell, "but I'm fine. Yeah, you waited for at least twenty minutes."

"Thirty." He turned to his old books. "Anyway, we should get started."

And for the next hour, Zuko taught Hana a few of the thousands of different characters and their sounds (the ones that she didn't know, of course) and drilled her with flash cards made of thick parchment. The lesson was going smoothly, aside from the fact that Hana didn't understand half of the characters Zuko was showing her, until her stomach growled. Multiple times.

"Are you hungry?" He put down the flash card that had the character for "ka."

"No," she deadpanned, "I'm not hungry."

"Really? Because you sound really hungry. You didn't even eat lunch."

"Of course I'm hungry." Hana rolled her eyes.

"You were being sarcastic."

"Yes."

"You're not supposed to be sarcastic. You're a servant."

"I think I would know that." She rolled her eyes again.

"Do you want some food?"

"No, I'm fine. Finish the lesson." Hana nodded reassuringly.

"You're not even getting most of the stuff I show you."

She shrugged. "I'm a servant. I don't need to read."

"Last time you were in the chambers you did. And since you couldn't, you were demoted back down to the kitchen."

"I don't mind the kitchen."

Zuko sighed. "Let's go get some food." He set his books down on the marble floor and stood up, his knees cracking. "Here," the prince offered Hana his hand, "let me help you up."

"I'm fine, Zuko." She stood up, her knees also cracking, and stood to her full height—about an inch shorter than him.

He started walking. "How could you not eat? You work in the kitchen."

"I wash dishes, not make the food." She smiled.

"Couldn't you sneak some?"

"Sneak some? I'm already in enough trouble. I don't need to be a food thief too."

"Oh." Zuko took her wrist and began to lead her down a swift walk to the kitchen. "What kind of trouble?" They passed the door to the dining hall.

"Servant trouble. I didn't use the right soap. I broke a couple of bowls. You know…." She took her wrist from his hand and walked beside him.

"No, actually I don't."

"Oh…yeah." The moment was getting awkward as their class difference became more pronounced. The two children barely had anything in common; one slept in a four-poster bed with silk sheets, the other on a cot with a threadbare blanket.

One washed dishes most of her day; the other was able to go to school.

One had a family, while the other didn't know if hers was even alive.

One was born in a palace; the other was born in an Earth Kingdom farm.

One an Earth Kingdom peasant, while the other was the Fire Nation Prince.

One was a -

"Did we take a short cut?" she asked, trying to break the tension.

"Kind of. Don't you know?"

"No," she shook her head, "I barely leave the kitchen and servant's quarters. The first time I met you for a lesson, I practically ran through the palace trying to find the back hall."

A smile broke out on Zuko's face and he giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"You're really clumsy." He looked left and right like he was crossing the street, but instead of looking for carriages; he was looking for people who might see him.

"You think I don't know that?" she said as they stepped closer to a double swing door to the kitchen. Voices and sounds of clanging pots and pans leaked through the cracks.

"Okay, we're here. I'll go inside, while you…"

Hana looked eager. This was like an adventure to her. In a few moments she would be able to taste real palace food—the kind that the royals could eat, not the porridge the servants were fed.

"Wait here on look out."

Her face fell only slightly.

"I'll come back with food and we can eat on our way back to the back hall."

She nodded.

Moments later, Zuko came back with two large dumplings each wrapped in a cloth napkin that had been left over from the royals' lunch.

"Here." He handed one to her and they each began to eat as they walked back to the back hall. The children didn't bother to speak to each other, as their mouths were full with meat dumpling. When they both finally got back, Hana made her way to the servants' quarters, bidding goodbye to her secret friend.

When she left, Zuko made his way to his bedchamber, hugging his books to his chest. His golden eyes darted back and forth, on the lookout for anyone who might see him. He was going the long way back to lower his chances of running into anybody, but he was still nervous. What if somebody saw him? What if someone knew, somehow? What if Azula found out—as she typically did?

"Why do you have all your old books, Zuzu? Is your reading now as bad as your firebending?" Her voice rang through his head.

Suddenly, the real Azula stopped Zuko right in front of his chamber.

"Mom knows." Azula said with a sadistic smile. "Dad knows."

"Knows what, Azula?" Zuko threw his books under a curtain. _Great. Just great. She knows._

"You were talking to a servant."

"Was not, and so what if I was? We have to talk to servants." _Okay, maybe not._

"To give them orders, not help them." She flicked her bangs away from her face.

"But they're Fire Nation, aren't they?" He had picked up his knife.

"_She's_ from the colonies." The princess said the word "colonies" the same way her father said "Earth Kingdom," or "Water Tribe."

"I know." Zuko moved on to sharpen it.

"From the Earth Kingdom."

"So?"

"So…she probably has Earth Kingdom blood in her, as well as Fire Nation. She's worse than an Earth Kingdom savage. Colony trash is a mutt."

"Is not!"

"Is too."

"Is NOT, Azula!"

"Then why are her eyes so dark? Someone from the Fire Nation would never have eyes that dark and you know it."

She was right.

Is Hana really what Azula says she is? Is Hana as low as a _mutt?_

"You're late, again?" Lin, Hana's supervisor, asked her, mad as ever.

"Uh, huh." Hana collapsed onto the tiled floor next to her basin, full of dirty dishes.

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?" She wrung a worn rag over another basin, putting nearly all her frustration into the unnecessarily violent motion.

Hana didn't say anything. She kept imagining her neck in the place of the worn rag; any minute now….

"What were you doing?" Lin threw the still-wet rag into the basin, where it landed with a splat.

The servant hesitated. If she said anything that hinted that she was breaking the rules, her neck would be in the place of the rag.

"Answer the question, Hana." Each word ground out through Lin's clenched teeth.

But Hana didn't say anything. What could she say? The truth? "I—I was playing…." she stammered. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling at her lie.

"Playing?" Lin's voice rose, squeaking slightly as her hazel eyes filled with fierce aggravation. The other servants took a split second from their dish washing to look up.

"You were playing?"

Hana nodded, her head feeling like it was a rusty gear in a rustier-still engine. The nod was stiff and slow, just like the gears.

After taking in a few calming deep breathes, Lin was able to dish out Hana's punishment: "I want you to do the dishes in your basin, mop the floors, scrub the pots, and do Kailan's share." Her voice was a dull monotone, but her lips were pressed together tighter than her fists clenched at her sides. No, she was not mad, she was furious. Hana had missed a full hour of her after-lunch shift, and it wasn't the first time. The girl had been dead weight ever since she arrived, and clearly punishment was the only way she would listen.

The rest of the servants snickered behind her. Hana's face reddened and she clenched her fists even harder than Lin's.

"But that's not fair!" Hana had forgotten the "no back-talk" rule, again. "I won't even be able to eat dinner!"

"Would you rather have that, or a wooden spoon to your knuckles? Because next time you're late, and you give me that sass, you'll have both. So get to work, Colony Trash," Lin hissed, eyes sharp and arms crossed.

She was serious.


End file.
